Design Studio Blog

Menu

USB Data Storage Watch Design

This watch design is Devindh’s approach to creating more USB data storage watches.

The time is displayed digitally as a 24-hour, colored LCD display. It is programmed to also display the amount of data currently stored in the watch, as well as the charge status. The main body features a rotating ‘coin edged’ bezel. The user turns the bezel to reveal the USB opening, and then twists the main winder to extend the USB ready for data transfer or charging. All time functions are accessed using the button embedded on the screen.

This watch should appeal to any person who needs to transfer data on a regular basis, e.g. students and photographers.

The styling, combination of materials, and function of this watch should help it stand out from the others.

I have a few sports style watches that I measured for reference and they all measured around 15mm. The thickness of the screen in the area where the readout is can be deep enough to house a microprocessor (well at least I hope so:)

I like the basic concept and the display style is nice, but very close to the wheel on the face. I think the mechanism for acsessing the usb seems un-nesessarily complicated. The renderings are very nice although I probably wouldn’d choose that colour combination.

When I finished rendering the watch I realised that I could probably have made the winder narrower to make the display seem less ‘cramped’. I don’t think there is anything complex about the bezel, so I stand by that decision. I also stand by my color choice, but I appreciate that it will not appeal to everyone. Thanks for providing a constructive critique.

I think that the bezel which hides the usb is (in silver) fine. I think having the wheel to push the usb out is un-nesessary. You could spring load the usb so when you rotate the bezel to the apropiate place it just pops out. Then to stow it away you push it back in manally and rotate the bezel back. This removes the need for the wheel and simplifies the face. Gold and blue should work as gold is similar to orange and orange is opposite to blue in the spectrum which usually means they work together. Im just not a fan of gold on a watch unless its there for a reason (like reflecting heat or something) Just my opinion. Good luck anyway! :)

Thanks for expanding. I had not thought about spring loading the usb. That would indeed eliminate the need for a winder and thus enable the screen to be ‘clearer’. I think I opted for a more ‘low tech’ option the make sure that the wiring needed to transmit data from the usb to the display could be more easily implemented. You make a fair point about my choice of materials. Luckily that is an aspect of the watch that is in no way fixed. Idealy I would like consumers to choose their own colors and then have things custom manufactured.

+ color: Fresh blue, nice yellow for the LCD, gold is an interesting material accent.
+ the grid: Very cool idea to handle the empty area of the display.
+ the revolver mechanism for the usb storage. It is a good alternative to the “I need a cap” mechanisms.

– the display layout: Too arbitrary, I would prefer a clearer alignment of elements like this: Maybe that’s too tame…

– the height of the case: Too chunky. It is a consequence of the revolver mechanism. I think a flatter version is possible with a lying usb storage.

Thanks for the concise breakdown:) I tried as hard as I could to make the watch only as thick as it needed to be, but as you rightly point out it is solely because I chose to have the USB vertical. I did initially think about having the USB lay flat and then design around that but I couldn’t think of an ‘elegant’ to conceal the opening. So yes a flatter version is certainly possible.

I have an unfinished USB watch concept and so I thought about the issues a while. Laying the USB down would also simplify the access to the computer.

If the USB thingy would lay down, you can create a opening/closing mechanism with a golden sliding ring. The opening would be hidden behind the straps, and when you turn it, and the opening reaches the USB thingy, it pops out. Maybe :)

The watch is needlessly too thick, but thinning it would be no problem for TF :D…
The face is simple, yet different..its unique..and LCD is always cool so i love this watch!
You should add colour variation pics…so people can see what they like best, or maybe even the same colour all around? that would be cool hehe, its a cool concept and alot can be done with it, and thats what the blog is all about, seeing the potential for what it could be..and not what it is hehe, 5 stars from me and yes (H)

I don’t think its really comfortable to have an embed usb drive as proposed by this design. The color combination of this watch, imho is quite unusual yet unique enough. Make the watch thinner, remove usb drive and add any other functions you think useful, 5* for the effort plus gorgeous and clean rendering.

I think I might remodel a version of the watch with most of the same design features but with the usb in a horizontal position. I might also remove the winder and swap it for a more conventional slider as suggested by Samukun. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

how exactly you will connect the watch to usb hub on pc or notebook? If notebook, you probably need to lift the notebook or use additional cable, To some pc design it might be okay, but to be used on the go, might not be comfortable enough imho.

One of the main reasons that I chose to approach the problem of a USB watch, was to eliminate the need for an additional cable. You are right that it would probably require the user to lift a laptop in order to plug the usb into the port but I think the ‘inconvenience’ of this would be minor in the case of data transfer. Charging the watch on the other hand might present some of the compatibility issues that you raise.

Thanks for your kind remarks about my use of colors. I often go for shades that are different to the majority of watches on the market. However I understand that it is probably wiser to post variations to help communicate the design. Look forward to seeing more from you as well:)

I think its a cool idea, but the major problem I see is that the orientation of the usb would not allow it to be plugged into the side of a low profile device (like a laptop). In that case, you would need a male-to-female adapter cable, and if you need to carry a cable, you may as well just use a mini usb of some sort and save space in the watch. That said, I hate carrying multiple usb sticks, and having a sizable amount of storage in my favorite watch, is a reasonable idea, so I would like to see where you go with it. Thank you for sharing!

I’m glad that you took the time to offer some feedback on my work. As with the other poster’s, I think you make some valid points. I think I will try to modify the design and produce a watch that addresses some of the issues raised. Thanks.

I don’t know where I saw but I remember a watch with built in usb, the usb was located in the strap which made the connecting to a lap top issue less of a problem as the strap was obviously flexible. Maybe this is something to think about if you choose to do a MKII.

Not sure why this is a Tokyo Flash watch? There is no ‘trick’ to it. Just dull dot matrix numbers. It’s not really space age or clever or futuristic. We’re all past the “gosh this is cool” phase of USB flash drive… and the numbers are just plain numbers. This might sell over at ThinkGeek.com, but not here.